Q. What’s the number one thing many people promise themselves nearly every new year as a resolution?
A. Exercise and lose weight.
I used to own a gym and January was my Christmas. People flooded in to join. All with good intentions. I became so good at sizing up “new members” that I could tell if someone was going to last three days, three weeks, or three months. A very small percentage stuck it out.
I began lifting weights at the age of ten. I would ride my bike to the YMCA and join all the “big” guys pumping iron. I would mimic their workouts. I was a skinny kid. I would wear long-sleeved sweaters, embarrassed of my thin arms. Why at ten I even cared, but I did. I had been lifting weights ever since, and by the time I was forty years old I was so buff I could have entered body building shows.
Sixty-two years later I ride my bike 100 miles a week, I still lift weights and watch my diet; I’m in good shape, or least I thought I was.
Both of my younger brothers began having some health issues and it got me to thinking. Maybe I should dig a little deeper. My calcium score was through the roof. When my cardiologist came in the room, head down (I couldn’t believe I actually had to get a cardiologist), he was reading my results. He looked up at me and said, “What the heck have you been eating?”
Out With the Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, and Gravy
Up until then I thought I had been doing pretty good with my diet. When I analyzed it more, it wasn’t that good at all. You can fool yourself; I’ll only eat a few fries. Cheese on everything is good for you. I don’t eat mashed potatoes and gravy every day. A few cookies now and then can’t hurt.
My cholesterol was over 250. Blood pressure was giving my heart a run for its money. I was told if I didn’t get it together, I was a candidate for a heart attack. Me? Heart attack? I was in great shape. Not.
I launched an entirely new diet regime. No more cheese, mostly fish, lots of vegetables, fruit and protein drinks. Same old thing we’re always told we should be doing. I had also been prescribed a couple new medications.
When I went in for my six-month follow-up visit, my cholesterol was 34 and blood pressure 120/70. This time the cardiologist looked up and said, “Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”
What’s my point of bringing all this up? Don’t take your health for granted. Get comprehensive yearly physicals if you don’t already. Know your body. Diet and exercise are not once-in-a-while fleeting ideas and not one-month annual resolutions. I used to train people and kept hammering home to my clients: treat exercise like eating, it must become a part of your daily life. And consistency is the key. Along with that you need the most important ingredient of all, self-discipline.
Put Down the Phone and Get Outside
You don’t have to make lofty goals that will scare you off. Start small. Walk around the block. Then walk a mile, then walk two miles. Do that three times a week.
For many, joining a gym can be intimidating. You walk in the front door, and you think people are judging you. Sizing you up.
They don’t care; they’re just like you.
When I started, I parroted what others did, I asked questions. Bought body building magazines and taught myself a routine. If you can afford it get with a trainer to help you get started. Once you’re comfortable, leave the nest and start doing it on your own. Don’t pressure yourself. Again, consistency is the key. If you’re a little sluggish one day, back off, but don’t stop. If you’re feeling good, then push it a little more. Plan a time of day that works for you and go through your routine. If you miss that time, find a window somewhere else in the day. Once you start telling yourself you’ll get to it tomorrow, or miss a day here and there, then you’ve boarded the excuse train. You’ll become one of those gym members I knew wouldn’t last three weeks.
There are many days I don’t want to do anything, but when I’m done, I always feel better and happier for it. There’s something to be said about endorphins.
If there isn’t a local gym or it’s just not your bag, buy a small weight set, a bench and use the sidewalk. YouTube is a great source for everything. Don’t buy a treadmill or stationary bike unless you live in snow country. It will end up collecting dust. Go outside and slow walk, fast walk, or jog.
When we were young, we all used to exercise on a regular basis; it was called going outside. Today’s cell phones are the death of us all. If you notice your daily screen time is 6, 8, or God forbid, 12 hours a day, think of what else you could have done with that time? Just peel away one of those hours to do something healthy for yourself.
RFK Jr. is bringing the topic of health back into the mainstream. He has had his own share of problems, like all of us, but he now leads by example. He’s a year younger than I am, and I must admit, I can’t do 20 pull ups. Good health: exercise and diet are not something you should have to remind yourself about once a year.
America needs to make a national resolution that healthy life changes will become just that, life changing. Your body doesn’t know 2025 from 2026.
In the immortal words of the comedian/actor, Rob Schneider, “You can do it!”
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How can anyone trust their doctor after the covid fiasco. Virtually every doctor pushed covid shots and boosters and most still do. Regarding cholesterol, while statins lower your cholesterol, life expectancy is not increased as a consequence https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-great-statin-scam. Cholesterol is not a reliable measure of cardiovascular health or heart attack risk or certainly longevity. The failure to consider all cause mortality over time between vaxed and unvaxed is a bury your head in the sand approach used by pharma to ignore the risk benefit tradeoff of vaccines and also for drugs. Your doctor is happy to go along with this arrangement. The exercise and diet recommendations are great but I believe one of the greatest risks to our health is the annual wellness visit to your doctor.
Great advice, that everybody can benefit from. Thanks for the reminder and sharing.